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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R. H. LITTLE.

APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING CARDS OR OTHER ARTICLES FOR ADVERTISING PURPOSES.

No. 479,820. v Patented Aug. 2, 1892.

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2 t e e h S k t e e h S 3 R L m T I L H R m d o M O m APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING CARDS OR OTHER ARPIGLES POE ADVERTISING PURPOSES.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

. R. H. LITTLE. APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING GARDS OR OTHER ARTIGLES FOR ADVERTISING PURPOSES. I

Pafnented Aug. 2, 1892. IgJO.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

ROBERT H. LITTLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF TVVO-TIIIRDS TO HENRY H. HEIMERDINGER AND ISAAC MEYER.

APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING CARDS AND OTHER ARTICLES FOR ADVERTlSlNG PURPOSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 479,820, dated August 2, 1892.

Application filed November 24, 1890. Serial No. 372,460. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: perspective view of a portion of the mechan- Be it known that 1, ROBERT H. LITTLE, reism whereby the movement of the card-desiding at Chicago, in the county of Cook and liveriug arm is effected. Figs. 11 and 12 are State of Illinois, have invented certain new plan views of the plate and connected parts 55 and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Over which moves the arm or crank that con- Delivering Cards and other Articles for Adtrols the'movement of the thumb of the cardvertising and other Purposes, of which I do gripping hand. Fig.13 is a viewin front eledeclare the following to be a full, clear, and Vation of the plate and a portion of the crank exact description, reference being had to the or arm illustrated in Figs. and 11. Fig. 14 6o [0 accompanying drawings, forming part of this is a view in vertical section through the plate specification. and the shifting plate attached thereto. Fig.

Mypresentinventiomwhile capable of more is a detail perspective view of the shiftexteuded use so far as certain of its features ing plate. are concerned, has primarily for its object to A'designates a suitable inclosing casing of 65 I 5 provide a simple, effective, and attractive any convenient shape and construction,adaptmeans whereby advertising-cards may be aued to hold the cards to be delivered and to tomatically delivered one card at a time to hold, also, the mechanism whereby the cards passers-by and whereby as soon as one card will be ejected one at a time. Within this inhas been delivered the mechanism will come closing casingA isacompartment A,in which 70 into operation to seize and present another the cards will be compactly retained, and card for delivery. through the bottom of this compartment A My invention consists in the various novel extends a plunger, upon the head B of which features of construction hereinafterdescribed, the stack of cards 0 will rest. The plungerillustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and head B is provided with an open stem 19, to 75 particularly pointed out in the claims at the the bottom of which is connected one end of end of this specification. the cord d, that passes over the pulleys d and Figure 1 is a view partly in front elevation (1 the opposite end of this cord d being proand partly in vertical section, the front of the vided with weights D, D, D and D The main casing being removed. Fig. 2 is an enweights D and D, &c., are loosely sustained 8o o larged View, partly in vertical section and upon the cord d; but the weight D may be partly in side elevation, through the upper fixed to the cord. A weight-box E is proportion of the casing wherein the cards and vided, through which the cord (1 will descend the card-ejecting mechanism are contained. as the stack of cards G within the compart- Fig. 3 is a view looking upward in horizontal ment A is diminished. section through the inclosing casing immedi- In order to graduate the pressure uponyth'e ately beneath the card ejecting plate, the stack of cards, I prefer to employ the differ"- ejecting mechanism being shown inverted. ential weight mechanism shownthat is to Fig. at is a view in vertical section through say, I employ weights of different sizes and the mechanism whereby the stack'of cards is form the interior of the weight-box with the 90 4o lifted. Fig. 5 is aview in side elevation illusshoulders e and 6', so that as the weight of trating a part of the elevating mechanism the stack of cards diminishes certain of the shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail perspec- Weights D D, &c., will be thrown out of active view of the slide-plate whereby the cardtion. Thus it will be seen, by reference more ejecting pawls are carried. Fig. 7 is a detail particularly to Figs. 1 and tof-the'drawings, 5 perspective view of one of the card-ejecting that when the compartment A is practically pawls. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of full of cards all of the weights D, 6100., will be one of the ejecting-fingers that is attached to in action; but as the stack of cards 0 is dithe card-ejecting pawl. Fig. 9 is a View in lninished the weight D will first rest upon the vertical section through the card-delivering upper edge of the weight-box E, and will be I00 arm, the mechanism for operating said arm thereby thrown out of action, and asafurther being shown in side elevation. Fig. 10 is a diminution in the stack of cards occurs the weight D will rest upon the shoulder e of the Weight-box, and will be thereby held out of action, and thereafter the weight D will in like manner be sustained by the shoulder e of the weight-box, leaving the bottom weight D to force upward the stack of cardsO when the stack has been approximately exhausted. This use of diiferential weight mecha'nism is important, because it affords a more certain action of the card delivery mechanism by graduating the force of the Weights to correspond with the weight of the stack of cards.

In the front of theinclosing casingA at the top of the compartment A is formed a delivery-opening a of the proper size to permit the topmost card of the series to be ejected therefrom. Across the top of the compartment A extends suitable guard-strips A against which the cards will be normally pressed by the plunger B. Between these guard-strips A extends the lower portion of a bracket A and between the rear portions of the strips A extends the bracket A The upper ends of the brackets A and A are bolted to a top plate A as seen at a and a and from the rear part of this top plate A depends a bracket A, as more particularly seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings. In the lower ends of the brackets A and A are fastened the guide-rods F and F, these rods passing through suitable openings in the lower portion of the central bracket A Adjacent the opening formed in the central bracket A may be placed set-screws 2 for firmly holding the guide-rods in place, and similar screws 3 may be employed adjacent the openings at the lower ends of the bracket A to retain the rear ends of the rods F F. The brackets A A are preferably yokeshaped, as shown, to allow for the free move ment of the toggle-levers G and G, whereby the card-ejecting plate H is operated. This plate H (see Fig. 6) is provided upon. its upper side with perforated lugs it, through which extend the guide-rods F F, the plate H being thus held in manner free to move upon the rods, and the plate H is furnished, also, with arms h, to which the front end of the togglelever G will be pivotally attached. To each side of the plate H, near its front, is pivoted, as at 5, a card-ejecting pawl K, that carries at its front end an ejecting-finger K, the vertical portion of which is set within a seat 70, formed in the pawl-K, and is adj ustably held therein by means of a set-screw It, that passes through a slot 76 of the finger K and into a threaded seat of the pawl K. (See Figs. 7 and 8.) My purpose in adj ustably mounting the ejecting-finger K upon the pawl K is to permit the position ofthis finger to be shifted to correspond to cards of different thicknesses. The lower portion of the ejecting-finger K is furnished with a plate K preferably beveled upon its under side, as seen in Fig. 8. It will thus be seen that each of the ejecting-pawls K, together with its finger K, is free to swing in upward direction; but the downward movement of the pawl is controlled by apin 7, against which the rear end of the pawl K will contact. Hence it will be seen that as the slide-plate H is forced forward by the mechanism presentlyto be described the plate K will contact with the rear edge of the topmost card of the stack 0 and will force this card from the opening a of the inclosing casing, as seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings. As the slideplate H is drawn backward after the card has been thus ejected the Weight mechanismwill force upward the stack of cards 0, and this upward movement will be permitted by the tu rning of the ejecting-pawls K about their pivotpoints. As soon, however, as the ejectingfingers K pass from the stack of cards these fingers will drop by their gravity into position to insure the striking of the plate 70 against the rear edge of the topmost card of the stack. The toggle-lever G is pivotally connected, as by a pin g, to the lower portion of the yokeshaped bracket A, and the upper ends of the toggle-levers G and G have their pivot-pin g preferably connected to a link 9 to which will be pivotally attached, as at 9 the upper end of the vertically-reciprocating rod L. The lower end of this rod L is connected to the arm m of the eccentric-yoke M, this yoke being pivoted to a bracket 9, attached to the inclosing casing A and being driven by an eccentric M, affixed to the main drive-shaft N. Power will be imparted to this drive shaft N by any suitable motor either located within or outside of the casing A. To the arm m of the yoke M is also connected a rod 0, that is pivotally attached to the rocking lever O, sustained by the bracket 10 within the base portion of the inclosing casing, and to the opposite end of this rod 0 is connected the operating-rod 0', through the medium of which power is transmitted to the mechanism that controls the movement of the card-delivering arm, to be presently described.

In the form of my invention illustrated in the drawings the cards are delivered to the passers-by by an automaton in the shape of a human being provided with a movable card-delivering arm P, having a hand P adapted to receive the cards as they are successively ejected from the opening a of the inclosing casing. The arm P is preferably of tubular shape and is connected at its upper end to a swingingbar R, that is fixed upon a vertical shaft 0", mounted withinsuitable bearings that has fixed thereto a rocking lever IIO S, whereby the movement of the shaft is con bracket or bearing 20, while its lower end is mounted in a seat 12, formed in the plate T, also conveniently sustained by the bracket 20, that is held within the body of the automaton. From the construction of parts as thus far defined it will be seen that when motion is imparted to the rod from the rocking lever O and the driving mechanism the bell-crank lever S will be rocked about its pivot-point,andthrough themediumofthelink s will cause the lever S to partially turn the shaft 0', so as to move the card-delivering arm P, that is connectedwith this shaft, from the position shown in Fig. 1 to a proper position to receive the card as it is ejected from the opening a of the inclosing casing A.

In order to bring the card-delivering arm opposite the opening a of the inclosing casing at the proper time to enable the hand P to receive the ejected card and in order, also, to enable the hand P to grasp the card, 1 have provided the mechanism next to be described. The hand P is provided with a movable thumb 25, that is pivoted to the hand, as at 26, and a rod 27, connected to the thumb, carries at its inner end a coiled spring 28, which by reason of its bearing upon the headed end 29 of the rod and a suitable 0E- set within the hand P serves to normally hold the thumb 25 in contact with the forefinger 30 of the hand. Preferably the forefinger 30 is furnished with a recess 31, adapted to receive a projection 32 at the end of the thumb Within the chamber 40 of the hand P V 25. is pivotally mounted a bell-crank lever W, one end of which bears against the movable thumb 25, the opposite end of this bell-crank lever having'attached thereto a cord 50, that passes through the arm and is preferably trained over a pulley 51, located within the arm about the angle of the elbow. This cord 50 also passes over a pulley 52, attached to one side of the arm R, and the upper end of the cord 50 is fastened to the free end of a shifting arm X, mounted upon a shaft 00, that is sustained within the arms .9 and s of the rocking lever S. Upon this shaft 00 is carried a coiled spring 60, one end of which is fastened to the arm .9 while its opposite end is fastened to an arm 61, that is attached to the lower end of the shaft a: and carries upon its under side a friction-roller 62. This frictionroiler 62 is adapted to travel over the plate T, but at certain times is arrested by a checkpawl V, that is pivoted, as at 65, within a recess at one edge of the plate T, the upper beveled end '0 of the pawl projecting normally above the face of the plate, as seen more particularly in Figs. and 13 of the drawings.

The pawl V is held in its normal position by means of a spring 66, which, however, permits the pawl to be forced down ward in order to allow the friction-roller 62 to ride over the beveled end 1) of the pawl and to beheld within the space between the end of the pawl and the upward extension 25 of the plate T. To one edge of the plate '1 is pivoted, as at 70, a shifting plate Y, the free end 'of this plate being between the extension 15' of 'the plate T and the edge of the plate, this shift-' ing plate being forced normally upward by a' primarily to effect the separation of the thumb and'the forefinger of the carddelivery hand P, and a further function of a part of this'mechanismv is to operate as a check or catch for preventing the movementof the card-delivering arm until the card has been removed from the delivery-hand. It is manifest, therefore, that the various parts must be so arranged and their movements must be so timed that when a card has been ejected from the inclosing casing the delivery-hand must approach the openingaof the casing to receive the card, and at the instant that the hand comes into position toreceive the card the thumb and forefinger 25-and- 30 must be separated to permit the card to be grasped thereby. So, also, as soon as the card has passed between the thumb and forefinger the mechanism that has separated these parts must be temporarily thrown out of action to permit the retention of the card as the delivery-hand is moved into position to present the card to a passer-by.

WVith this explanation the operation of the.

mechanism above described will be seen to be as follows, it being understood that the motor attached to the drive-shaft N will be of such character as to tend to turn this shaft in order to'effect the operation of the mechanism. Assuming that a card is in the hand of the automaton, as seen in Fig. 1,it is manifest that the thumb and forefinger of the delivery-hand will be held apart, as the lug or extension 32 of the thumb will bear'upon the face of the card and force it against the forefinger 30. If now the card be withdrawn from the delivery-hand P, the spring 28 upon the rod 27 will draw inward the thumb 25, causing the extension or lug 32 to pass into the seat 30 of the forefinger, and this inward movement of the thumb will cause the lever V to rock about its pivot-point, and in so doing to exert sufficient tension upon the cord to cause this'cord to shift the arm X, thereby partially rotating the shaft cc and causing it to swing the arm 61 away from the pawl V, as seen by dotted lines'in Fig; 12 of the drawings. My purpose in forming the thumb and forefinger with the lug 32 and seat 31 (and obviously the position of the lug and 1 seat might be reversed) is to allow for sufficient movement of the thumb to insure the rocking of the lever W, since if the card were merely grasped between the thumb and forefinger there would not be sufficient mov'ement of the thumb when the card was withdrawn to effect the movementof thelever W.

When the arm 61 has been shifted in manner last described and has moved the friction-roller 62 away from the pawl V, it is manifest that the shaft 1' (see Fig. 10) will be no longer dogged or arrested and the motor or prime mover operating upon the drive-shaft N will be free to turn this drive-shaft N and through the medium of the cam-yoke M, rod

0, lever 0, rod and bell-crank lever S will impart movement to the link and rocking lever S, thereby moving the link 8 and rocking lever in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 10, and consequently causing the delivery-arm P to swing toward the opening ajof the inclosing casing. During the upward movement of the rod 0' the turning of the shaft 4", and consequent movement of the delivery-arm P, will thus continue. As the shaft 0" is thus turned the arm 61, and carrying with it the friction-roller 62, will be moved until this arm strikes the side of the shifting plate Y, the effect of which will be to arrest the movement of the friction-roller and of the arm in unison with the arms 3 and s of the rocking lever S, and will cause this friction-roll 62, as the movement of the arms 5 and s continues, to travel along the side of the shifting plate Y until the roll passes off the edge of the inclined portion 75 of this shifting plate. The result of thus shifting the movement of the friction-roll 62 is to exert an increased tension upon the cord 50, and thereby cause the lever W within the delivery-hand P to rock about its pivot-point and force outward thethu mb 25, so as to separate this thumb the proper dis tance from the forefinger in order to permit the card to pass between the thumb and forefinger, and this separation of the thumb and forefinger will occur at the time when the delivery-hand is at the proper point to receive the card passing from the opening a of the inclosing casing. As soon as the card has thus been received between the thumb and forefinger the roller 62 will pass off the inclined portion 75 of the shifting plate Y, the shaft 0" will have completed its partial rotation, and the rod 0 will begin its downward movement to effect a reverse rotationof the shaft 7" and the parts carried thereby. As the shaft 4 travels in reverse direction the friction-rolls 62 will ride upon the inclined portion 75 of the shifting plate Y, thereby depressing this plate against the force of its spring 72, so that the tension of the cord is relaxed as the roll 62 swings backward. As a consequence, the spring 28 within the delivery-hand P will cause the thumb 25 to move inward and grasp the card that has been forced through the opening ct of the inclosing casing. As thelug or extension 32, bearing as it does upon the face of the card, will hold the thumb 25 at some distance from the forefinger 30, and as the spring upon the shaft attends to turn the arm 61 toward the shaft r,the friction roller or stop 62 will, during the backward movement of theshaft r,passin the direction of the arrows,Fig. 12, again stand over the head 11 of the-pawl V, depressing this pawl until the friction-roller passes behind the end of the pawl and is checked thereby. As soon as the roll 62 contacts with the upward extension 25 of the plate T the further movement of the shaft 1 will be arrested, and this arrest of the movement of the shaft 7' and parts carried thereby will occur at the instant that the rod 0' is at its lowest position and about to begin a new stroke. Manifestly, therefore, the further movement of the apparatus is arrested until the card is withdrawn from the deliveryhand P, thereby permitting the friction-roll 62 to be shifted in order to allow the mechanism to again start, as above described.

It is obvious that instead of a friction-roll 62 a simple stop might be used, although I regard the friction-roll as preferable. So, also,-

the details of construction above described may be varied within wide limits without departing from the scope of the invention, and I do not therefore wish the invention to be understood as restricted to such details. For example, while I regard the use of two cardejecting pawls and fingers as advantageous I would still regard the use of a single pawl of my improved construction as within the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. 1n apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a compartment for holding the cards, of a vertically-movable plunger or support for sustaining the cards, a slide provided with one or more pivoted ejecting pawls and fingers, and suitable mechanism for operating said slide, substantially as described.

2. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a compartment for holding the cards, of a vertically-movable plunger or support for sustaining the cards, and a slide provided with one or more vertically-movable ejecting-fingers, and suitable mechanism for operating said slide, substantially as described.

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a compartment for holding the cards, of a vertically-movableplunger or support for sustaining the cards, a slide provided with one or more pivoted pawls, and ejecting-fingers and toggle mechanism for operating said slide,substantially as described.

4;. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a compartment for holding the cards, of a vertically-movable plunger or support for sustaining the cards and a reciprocating vertically-adjustable ejecting-finger for forcing the cards from the compartment, substantially as described.

5. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a compartmentA for holding the cards, of a reciprocating slide-plate H, pivoted pawls K, provided with ejecting fingers K, one of said pawls being arranged IIO at each side of said slide-plate, and toggle-1evers G G for operating said slide-plate, substantially as described.

6. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a compartment for holding the cards, of a vertically-movable plunger or support for sustaining the cards and differ ential weight mechanism for feeding said cards upward, said weight mechanism comprising means for throwing portions of the lifting-weight out of action as the stack of cards decreases, substantially as described.

7. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a compartment for holding the cards, of a vertically-movable plunger or support for sustaining the cards, a cord connected to said plunger or support, a series of weights carried by said cord, and a weightboX provided with projections adapted to successively throw said weights out of action, substantially as described.

-8. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a movable arm and suitable means for operating it, of a hand provided with a movable thumb and with a fin ger, said thumb having an extension and said finger being provided with a recess adapted to receive said extension, substantially as described.

9. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a movable arm, of a rotat able shaft for swinging said arm, suitable connections leading from said shaft to the motit e power, a stop or check mechanism connected with said rotary shaft to arrest its movement, a hand provided with a movable part-such, for example, as a thumba lever adapted to be moved by said thumb, a spring of sufficient power to move said thumb and said lever, and a suitable mechanical connection between said lever and said stop or check mechanism, whereby when said thumb is shifted under the force of said spring said lever will be moved to shift said mechanical connections and release the stop mechanism, substantially as described.

' 10. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a movable arm, of a shaft 4", connected with said arm, a rockingleverS, attached to said shaft and suitably connected with the motive power, an arm X and a shaft or, sustained by said lever S, an arm 61, connected to said shaft or: and provided with a stop or roller 62, a pivoted check-pawl V,'a cord 50, connected to said arm X, a lever W, a delivery-hand P, by which said lever vW is sustained, and a movable springactuated thumb 25, substantially as described.

11. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a movable arm and a shaft for swinging said arm and to which said arm is connected, of a swinging stop or roller 62, connected to said shaft, a pivoted check-pawl V for arresting said stop or roller 62, a delivery -hand P, provided with a movable spring-actuated thumb 25, and a suitableconnecting mechanism between said thumb 25 and said stop or roller 62, whereby when the card is removed from the grasp of said thumb the stop or roller 62 will be thrown out of engagement with said pawl V, substantially as described.

12. In apparatus of the class described, the combination, with a movable arm P, of a shaft 1' for swinging said arm, said shaft being suitably connected with the motive'power,

a stop or roller 62,connected with said shaft, a pivoted pawl V for engagement with said stop or roller 62, an arm 61 for carrying said stop or roller 62, and suitable means for sustaining said arm 61,'and a movable deflecting plate Y, substantially as described.

ROBERT H.'LITTLE.

Witnesses:

GEO. P. FISHER, J r., T. B. CARPENTER. 

